Habitat III Regional Preparations – Regional Youth Discussions
The session on Habitat III Regional Preparations – Regional Youth Discussions will be held on November 27th. The main objectives of the session are to outline the Habitat III preparations and their application to the Arab Region and to debate and deliberate on specific topics related to informal areas and urban development challenges in the region in order to provide inputs to the Habitat III Arab Regional Report. The session will be structured through three parts open to the wider public upon registration.
The first part of the session will give the audience and participants an overview of the regional preparation process towards Habitat III and guide the discussions of the subsequent session. It will account for the global Habitat III preparation process in line with the Post-2015 Development Agenda and its application to the Arab Region. Moreover, the findings of Habitat III National Reports from selected Arab countries will be presented, building the foundations of the Arab Regional Report to Habitat III, to be drafted by UNESCWA in close collaboration with the League of Arab States and supported by UN-Habitat.
The second part of the session will be structured around three roundtable discussions focusing on specific fields related to urban development and informal settlements as a cross-cutting issue. Themes to be deliberated during the round table session should address the gaps that hinder integrated and inclusive sustainable urbanization in the Arab Region, taking into consideration spatial, economic and legal aspects. Each round table will be composed by around 8 discussants, particularly young professionals on related fields from Arab countries, one moderator, one speaker and one rapporteur. The three roundtables are intended to render current challenges, lessons learnt from innovative solutions addressing the challenges of informal urbanism from a regional youth perspective. The discussions of each roundtable will turn around three proposed questions tackling the topics:
1- Urban Planning, Legislation and Governance. (click here for full description).
2- Quality of Life and Social Inclusion. (click here for full description).
3- Housing and Slum Upgrading. (click here for full description).
Finally, the third part of the session will be dedicated to the exposition of the conclusions of the three discussions during the second session. The conclusions will take the form of recommendations for the various themes to be included into the Arab Region Habitat III Report and inputs for the New Urban Agenda.
Registration for UN-Habitat Roundtables
Please fill in the registration form for the roundtables and send it before 22nd of November 2014.